Articles liés à Beating the Odds: The Life and Times of E. A. Milne

Beating the Odds: The Life and Times of E. A. Milne - Couverture souple

Weston-smith, Meg

 
9781848169074: Beating the Odds: The Life and Times of E. A. Milne
Couverture souple
ISBN 10 : 1848169078 ISBN 13 : 9781848169074
Editeur : Imperial College Press, 2013

Synopsis

E A Milne was one of the giants of 20th century astrophysics and cosmology. His bold ideas, underpinned by his Christianity, sparked controversy — he believed two time scales operate in the universe.

Struggling against poverty, Milne won five scholarships to Cambridge, but he never finished his degree. In World War I he was invited to develop Horace Darwin's device for anti-aircraft gunnery and after the Armistice his prowess in ballistics took him straight to a Fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge. By the age of thirty he was a Manchester professor and a Fellow of the Royal Society. At Oxford he battled to improve the university's attitude towards science, and established a world-centre of astrophysics. He suffered from Parkinsonism in his forties, the consequence of his having had encephalitis lethargica as a young man. However, buoyed by his Christian faith, he did not slacken his pace. When he died, twice widowed, the author — Milne's daughter — was a teenager.

This book is born out of curiosity. The author's aim is to show the human face of science, how the course of her father's life was shaped by circumstance and by the influence of illustrious friends and colleagues such as Einstein, Eddington, G H Hardy, J B S Haldane, Hubble, F A Lindemann and Rutherford. Against all odds, Milne emerged as a scientific powerhouse — and a rebellious one at that.

Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Revue de presse

"I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the history of science or even just in history itself. It is not technical and so does not require any mathematics background to read. The book itself is deeply personal and yet wholly accessible. It is a terrific homage to a father who sincerely tried his best to provide for his family and to serve his country, college, and students, all while contributing a wealth of ground breaking and enduring ideas to applied mathematics." --Quantum Moxie

"It is not just the story of the man by a dutiful daughter, but a true work of scholarship, aided by the countless experts she has consulted. Meg Weston Smith is to be thanked for informing us with such panache of the struggles and truimphs of her remarkable father." --LMS Newsletter

"The book is well written and provides not only a description of Milne's life but also of academic life in general during the first half of the 20th Century ... I highly recommend the book (which contains more than enough references, to both primary and secondary sources, for those wanting to learn more about Milne's work and its influence), because it does everything else very well. I recommend the book to anyone interested in astronomy, academia, or their history, it was a very enjoyable read."--The Observantory Magazine

"I found Beating the Odds a wonderful book, which deserves to be widely read. It opens a window on to a fascinating man (who is not well known as he should be) and a wide range of scientific history (war work, astrophysics and cosmology, and the surrounding academic culture). The book has clearly been thoroughly researched, but the scholarship is worn lightly keeping the book readable. Meg also manages to set just the right distance between herself and her father as a subject, maintaining objectivity without losing personal detail."

--Dr Mark McCartney, President of British Society for the History of Mathematics

Présentation de l'éditeur

E A Milne was one of the giants of 20th century astrophysics and cosmology. His bold ideas, underpinned by his Christianity, sparked controversy — he believed two time scales operate in the universe.

Struggling against poverty, Milne won five scholarships to Cambridge, but he never finished his degree. In World War I he was invited to develop Horace Darwin's device for anti-aircraft gunnery and after the Armistice his prowess in ballistics took him straight to a Fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge. By the age of thirty he was a Manchester professor and a Fellow of the Royal Society. At Oxford he battled to improve the university's attitude towards science, and established a world-centre of astrophysics. He suffered from Parkinsonism in his forties, the consequence of his having had encephalitis lethargica as a young man. However, buoyed by his Christian faith, he did not slacken his pace. When he died, twice widowed, the author — Milne's daughter — was a teenager.

This book is born out of curiosity. The author's aim is to show the human face of science, how the course of her father's life was shaped by circumstance and by the influence of illustrious friends and colleagues such as Einstein, Eddington, G H Hardy, J B S Haldane, Hubble, F A Lindemann and Rutherford. Against all odds, Milne emerged as a scientific powerhouse — and a rebellious one at that.

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
Imperial College Press
Date d'édition
2013
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
1848169078
ISBN 13 
9781848169074
Reliure
Broché
Numéro d'édition
1
Nombre de pages
330
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
GPSR Kontakt
gpsr@libri.de

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